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To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth (originally Nothing But the Truth in the pilot) was a game show where three people who claim to be someone are questioned by a panel of four celebrities. One of them is the real person while the other two are just impostors. The panelists take turns questioning the people about their subject and then try to guess which of the three people is the truth teller. Game format To start, three contestants all of whom claim to be the same person introduced themselves (most of the time the contestants are of the same sex, on rare occasions there would be a mixture of both sexes), then the host read the sworn affidavit of the real person. After the affidavit was read and when the challengers went over to their desk, the panelists one by one asked a series of questions to the challengers based on the affidavit in some way for an unmentioned amount of time. The impostors were allowed to lie, but the real person was game bound to tell the truth (hence the name of the show). Once one panelist's time was up, another panelist started questioning. Once the entire panel's time was up, they started to vote for whoever was the real person. Each panelist showed his/her vote, and regardless of whoever they voted for, the appropriate panelist's vote for the appropriate contestant was signified by an "X" (in most versions the Xs appeared in lights, but in the 90s version only, the Xs were on flip cards). Once all the votes were cast, the real person then revealed himself/herself by standing up by virtue of the host saying "Will the real (insert person's name) please stand up?". After the real person revealed himself/herself, the impostors told everyone their real names & occupations; then there was a brief chat (sometimes a stunt) to the real person. For each incorrect vote, the team of challengers won some money. Panelist's Disqualification Sometimes, a panelist would recognize or actually know one of the challengers, not necessarily the real person. If and when that happened, the panelist can disqualify himself/herself (later renamed recusal) causing an automatic wrong vote and giving the challengers money for that vote. Audience Vote In the 60s daytime version and the 50s pilot, the audience got in on the fun by making a vote themselves. The challenger with the majority vote got that vote. In case of a two-way or three-way tie, it worked the same as the panelist's disqualification; for that vote was considered wrong and the challengers picked up the incorrect vote value. Payoffs Here are the payoffs for the incorrect votes according to the version: *'50s Nighttime Version' - Each incorrect vote was worth $250 meaning that a complete stump was worth $1,000. If the entire panel chose the same challenger and was correct, the challengers still won $150. *'60s Daytime Version' - Each incorrect vote was worth $100 meaning that a complete stump was worth $400. When the audience vote was instituted in the original CBS daytime version, the maximum prize was raised to $500. Personnel *Host: Bud Collyer *Substitute Hosts: Jack Clark, Sonny Fox, Jim Fleming, Ralph Bellamy, John Cameron Swayze, Robert Q. Lewis, Merv Griffin, Gene Rayburn, Mark Goodson *Announcer: Bern Bennett (1956-1960), Roger Foster (1960), Johnny Olson (1960-1968) *Substitute Announcers: Hal Simms (1957-1959), Jack Clark (1961-1965), Warren Moran (1966-1968) *Commercial Announcers: Dwight Weist, Bob Shepard, James Daly *Executive Producer: Gil Fates *Producers: Bob Stewart, Willie Stein, Bruno Zirato, Jr. *Directors: Franklin Heller, Paul Alter, Lloyd Gross *Theme: “Peter Pan” by Dolf Van Der Linden (1956-1962), Robert "Bob" Cobert (1962-1967), Score Productions (1967-1968) *Set Designers: Carl Kent (Original), Nelson Baume, Robert Rowe Paddock Panelists Regular Panelists included: *Tom Poston *Peggy Cass *Orson Bean *Kitty Carlisle *Johnny Carson *Polly Bergen *Jayne Meadows *Don Ameche *Hy Gardner *Dick Van Dyke *Hildy Parks *John Cameron Swayze *Ralph Bellamy Broadcast History Primetime December 18, 1956-September 16, 1958 (CBS Tuesday Nights at 9:00 p.m.) September 23, 1958-September 22, 1959 (CBS Tuesday Nights at 8:30 p.m.) October 01, 1959-June 30, 1960 (CBS Thursday Nights at 7:30 p.m.) July 07-September 22, 1960 (CBS Thursday Nights at 10:30 p.m.) September 26, 1960-September 05, 1966 (CBS Monday Nights at 7:30 p.m.) September 11-October 23, 1966 (CBS Sunday Afternoons at 5:00 p.m.) December 12, 1966-May 22, 1967 (CBS Monday Nights at 10:00 p.m.) Daytime June 18-December 28, 1962 (CBS Weekdays at 3:30 p.m w/5-minute newscast) December 31, 1962-September 06, 1968 (CBS Weekdays at 3:00 p.m. w/5-minute newscast) Trivia The original 1956 pilot called Nothing But the Truth hosted by Mike Wallace aired on Buzzr as part of their To Tell the Truth marathon in conjunction with the ABC reboot hosted by Anthony Anderson on June 12, 2016. At the time, Both Goodson and Todman originally wanted Collyer to once again host the revival of Truth in 1969, but he declined due to his poor health, but when they both called Garry Moore about the gig, Moore immediately called Collyer, who told Moore that "I am just not up to it" as he died at age 61 from a circulatory ailment on the very same day as the syndicated version of Truth premiered on September 8, 1969. International Versions Main Article: To Tell the Truth/International Merchandise Board Game A home game was released by Lowell in 1957. picTo_Tell_the_Truth.jpg Interactive Online Game An interactive online version of To Tell the Truth where you were allowed to play along with the show was once availiable thru their website at GSN.com. I49_C.jpg Photos Main Article: To Tell the Truth/Photos Episode Status See Also: To Tell the Truth/Episode Guide Video See Also To Tell the Truth (1969) To Tell the Truth (1980) To Tell the Truth (1990) To Tell the Truth (2000) To Tell the Truth (2016) Links To Tell the Truth @ Pearson's official website (via Internet Archive) 'To Tell the Truth' Debuts on CBS in Daytime FremantleMedia North America & Jeff Gaspin To Revive 'To Tell the Truth' FremantleMedia Looking to revive 'To Tell the Truth' Classic Celebrity Panel Game Show Coming Back Sorry, ABC, but you can't beat the original To Tell the Truth Category:To Tell the Truth Category:Game Shows N-Z Category:CBS Primetime Category:CBS Daytime Category:1956 Premiere Category:1966 Ending Category:1962 Premiere Category:1968 Ending Category:1966 Premiere Category:1967 Ending